Right after quite the thread on here before, I have decided to go for the Beyerdynamic DT 770 headphones. Next item is seeing whether or not my onboard with/without soundcard will be powerful enough to run these headphones.
Personally I have no idea about the Ohms, impedance so I would need laymen terms here people :p
My motherboard is an ROG Rampage IV Extreme and due to problems on arrival I am using an Asus Xonar DGX soundcard but I am looking to change it as well.
I think the DGX will power those headphones just fine I would not change it unless you are going to get like a highend external DAC + amp which will cost like $200 and I am not sure how big of a difference there will be. The sound card is better if you are gaming too because of Dolby 5.1 processing to help you hear where things are coming from something that a DAC can't do that most people forget about.
Ohms is basically resistance so the higher the ohms the more power you need to power something. Beyerdynamic generally has different ohm versions of their headphones so it depends. If you get a 32 ohm version your onboard audio will have no problem powering them to a deafening volume. Anything higher than around 64 ohm you should start consider getting an amp/dac or soundcard with a build in amp. Hope this helps
Thanks guys, think I'm going to go for the 32 ohm version and just buy the Velour pads lol.
One final question and this should have been asked earlier but will these headphones be an improvement over my Razer Krakens?? :p
I would say yes but I don't think it's going to be a mind blowing difference(maybe who knows). I think the 770s are pretty bass heavy but still have a decent soundstage for a closed set of headphones. You should be happy with the improvement I would think.
If you haven't bought the 32 Ohm version yet, you might be able to run the 250 Ohm version fine. I own a pair of the 250 Ohm DT 990s and they run fine on everything from phones to iPods to laptops to desktops. They don't get deafeningly loud, but if you want that you should be looking at more "fun" headphones anyways. If you are sitting at your desk or even in something like a classroom or office they get more than loud enough for me. At my desk I only need to put my system volume at 10-16% to listen to them comfortably.
Now to find a UK distributor with a reasonable price :P
Cheers guys.
So just to clarify, I can run the 250 Ohm 770s??
Hmmmm may actually have more funds than I thought for this venture, what about the 880 model??
880's are more neutral. Don't get the 32 ohm impedance version. Your sound card will have a dampening factor on them making them sound worse.
Ahh MayFlower just the guys I was looking to speak to, any advice/input on mt predicament?